System and Method of Playing a Combination of Three Card Poker and Draw Poker

ABSTRACT

An electronic poker-style card game of the present disclosure comprises an input device and a display device. In addition, the electronic poker-style card game comprises logic stored in memory and configured to display a gaming table via the display device, receive data, via the input device, indicative of at least one initial wager, thereby forming a wagered player, and deal a first number of cards to the wagered player and deal a second number of cards indicative of a dealer&#39;s hand. In addition, the logic further receives data indicative of a discarded card from the first number of cards and a corresponding additional wager and deals the wagered player a replacement card for the discarded card if the wagered player discarded one of the first number of cards to form a wagered player&#39;s hand. Furthermore, the logic discards one card from the second number of cards and resolves the wagered player&#39;s wager based upon the wagered player&#39;s hand and a predetermined payout schedule.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No. 11/821,799 filed on Jun. 26, 2007 and entitled “Method of Playing a Combination of Three Card Poker and Draw Poker,” the entire contents of which are herein incorporated by reference.

BACKGROUND

Poker has become popular around the world. There has also been a huge interest in games that are not so complicated and played rapidly like Three Card Poker (U.S. Pat. No. 5,685,774. In this game a player places his/her bet on (the Ante area) to play against the dealer's hand and/or the player makes a second bet in (the PAIR PLUS area) to play hand value of his/her cards or the player makes both bets.

This game is played with a standard deck of playing cards (52 cards), three cards are dealt to the player and three cards are dealt to the dealer. When player bets Ante he/she must now bet in (Play area) or fold and forfeit all bets. If the player bets, he/she plays the three card hand against the dealers hand. If the dealer does not play (dealer must have Queen High or better to qualify) the player wins 1 to 1 odds on the Ante bet and pushes on the Play bet. If the dealer has Queen High or better hand the dealer qualifies to play. If the players hand beats the dealer, player wins 1 to 1 odds on both Ante and Play bets. If the dealer and the player tie it's a push, Ante and Play bets are returned to the player. With the Pair Plus bet only the players hand is used and he/she wins if he/she has a pair or better.

Odds are as follows:

-   -   Pair (1 to 1)     -   Flush (4 to 1)     -   Straight (6 to 1)     -   Three of a Kind (30 to 1)     -   Straight Flush (40 to 1)

You may also play Pair Plus only without playing Ante or Play. In Three Card Poker® if the player receives a bad hand, he/she has no chance to improve their hand.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

This present invention is an improved card game for casinos that combines the well known games of Three Card Poker® and Draw Poker. The game will pay players according to the odds posted based upon the rank of the cards of each player that plays.

This present invention is played between the dealer who represents a banker, such as a casino employee and one up to seven players. This game is started by a player placing a bet on ANTE and PAIR PLUS (optional) to play against the dealer or the house. The dealer then deals three cards face down to each player and deals four cards face down to him or herself. The dealer then pushes the cards to each player allowing them to look at their hand during which time they decide whether to play, fold or draw.

In this invention the player has the option of drawing another card by discarding one card in the DRAW CARD area with a bet (bet must match ANTE) on top of the card. The dealer takes the card and bet and replaces it with a new card. The player then adds the new card to his/her hand where he/she then makes the decision to play or fold. If the player decides to play the hand he/she must place bet on PLAY area (bet must match ANTE). If the player bets only Pair Plus he/she can not discard a card and receive another. If he/she decides to fold all bets are forfeited.

After all the plays have been made the dealer turns over his/her four cards discarding one to make their best three card hand. The dealer plays with Queen High or better. Pay outs are then determined for each player based on the pay table and the amount the player wagered. The pay table is as follows.

Against the Dealer

If the dealer does not play Ante wins 1 to 1. If the dealer plays and the players hand beats the dealer, Play wins 1 to 1 and Ante wins 1 to 1. If the dealer and players hand ties wagers are returned.

Ante Bonus Wins Extra Bonus Payouts

Following hands are always paid extra BONUS on ANTE as BONUS does not play against dealer.

Straight 3 in sequence unsuited 1 to 1 Three of a kind 3 of same kind 3 to 1 Straight Flush 3 in sequence suited 4 to 1

PAIRPLUS Win Payouts

Pair 2 of same kind 1 to 1 Flush 3 suited 3 to 1 Straight 3 in sequence unsuited 5 to 1 Three of a kind 3 of same kind 20 to 1 Straight Flush 3 in sequence suited 30 to 1

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows an exemplary gaming layout for a game in accordance with the present disclosure.

FIG. 2 shows an enlarged view of the wagering area of the gaming layout depicted in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram depicting an exemplary computing device for playing the game depicted in FIG. 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

FIG. 1 shows an exemplary gaming layout of a game in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. The gaming layout includes a plurality of player locations 12 not to exceed seven, and a dealer location 14.

The game is played with a standard deck of playing cards (52 cards). Each player's location 12 has a designated location 22 for “ANTE” wager, a designated location 24 for “PAIRPLUS” wager, a designated location 26 for “DRAW CARD” wager, and a designated location 20 for “PLAY” wager.

Each player places a wager on location 22 and a wager on location 24. In one embodiment, the wager that is to be placed on location 24 is optional. The dealer deals each player three cards face down, and the dealer deals him/herself four cards face down. Each player must decide to play, fold or draw.

If the player decides to play his hand, he places his cards face down with a wager on top in the designated location 20. If the player decides to fold, the dealt cards are placed face down and pushed toward dealer forfeiting all wagers.

Each player has the option to discard one card. When discarding a card, the player places the discarded card face down with wager equal to ante on top in location 26. The dealer pulls the discarded card and places it in a designated location 16. Location 16 may be, for example, a “discard shoe.” In addition, the dealer places the wager in a designated location 18. Location 18 may be, for example, the dealer's chip/token rack.

The player's discarded card is replaced with an additional card face down in location 26, and the player adds the additional card to his/her hand. The player then makes a final decision to play or fold. If the player folds, he forfeits all wagers as described above.

The dealer continues clockwise to the next player. After each player has made their decision, the dealer turns his four cards face up and discards one card to make his/her best three-card hand. The dealer's discard is placed in location 16.

The dealer's three card hand must be Queen high or better to play. The dealer starts with the first player to his/her left that plays and compares his/her three card hand against the dealer's three-card hand. If the player's three-card hand is higher rank than the dealer's three-card hand, the player's winnings are determined by what the player wagered and is paid from location 18 according to the paytable.

Hands are ranked according to the following:

Highest:

Straight Flush: three cards of one suit in sequence

Three of a kind: three cards of one kind

Straight: three cards unsuited in sequence

Flush: three cards of one suit

Pair: two cards of same kind

Lowest:

High card:

-   -   A-K-J unsuited and so on, until     -   5-3-2 unsuited lowest ranking

ACE is high except in 3-2-A sequence

Paytable is as follows:

Bet:

Bet ante to play against the dealer, or bet pairplus to play hand value or bet both. Stakes can be different on pairplus and ante.

Deal:

Each player and dealer plays with a three card poker hand.

Draw Card:

Each player may discard one card in exchange for a draw card (opt). To receive the draw card, players must place the discard in the draw card area with the wager on top (wager must equal ante). If a player plays PairPlus only he/she cannot receive draw card.

Against Dealer:

Player—Bet play exactly equal to ante, draw (opt) or fold and surrender all wagers. Dealer—The dealer is dealt four cards face down, after everyone plays, draws, or folds, the dealer will discard one card to make the best three card hand. The dealer plays with Queen high or better.

Against Dealer Payouts:

If dealer does not play ante wins 1 to 1. If dealer plays and if players hand beats the dealers hand, play wins 1 to 1 and Ante wins 1 to 1, ties stakes are returned.

Ante Bonus Wins Extra Payouts:

The hands are always paid extra bonus on Ante as bonus does not play against dealer.

3 cards in sequence straight 1 to 1 3 cards of same kind 3 of a kind 3 to 1 3 cards in sequence suited straight flush 4 to 1

Pairplus Win Payouts:

Pair 2 of a kind 1 to 1 Flush 3 suited 3 to 1 Straight 3 in sequence unsuited 5 to 1 3 of a kind 3 of same kind 20 to 1 Straight Flush 3 in sequence suited 30 to 1 Winning Pairplus hand must always bet play if also playing against dealer. Ace is high except in 3-2-Ace sequence.

In one embodiment of the present disclosure, the game is played in the context of live casino table game. This present disclosure provides a game which combines the aspects of Three Card Poker® and Draw Poker and maintains a reasonable odds for the casino.

In another embodiment of the present disclosure, the game is played electronically on a computing device 300 such as is depicted in FIG. 3. With reference to FIG. 3, the computing device 300 comprises processing unit 301, display device 303, input device 304, and network device 305. Each of these components communicates over local interface 307, which can include one or more buses.

The exemplary computing device 300 further comprises game logic 306. The game logic 306 can be software, hardware, or a combination thereof. In the exemplary computing device 300 depicted in FIG. 3, game logic 306 is shown as software stored in memory 302. Memory 302 may be of any type of memory known in the art, including, but not limited to random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), flash memory, and the like.

Processing unit 301 may be a digital processor or other type of circuitry configured to run the game logic 306 by processing and executing the instructions of the game logic 306. By way of example, the processing unit 301 may be a processor having digital signal processor (DSP) architecture. The processing unit 301 communicates to and drives the other elements within the computing device 300 via the local interface 307.

The network device 305 receives and/or transmits data over a network (not shown). Thus, the network device 305 may be, for example, an Ethernet card (not shown), which connects the computing device 300 to the network.

The display device 303 is a device for visually one or more graphical user interfaces (GUIs) for use by a user (not shown) to interact with the game logic 306, which is described further herein. The display device 303 may be, for example, a backlit liquid crystal display (LCD) screen. Other types of display devices may be used in other embodiments of the present disclosure.

The input device 304 is for entering data into the computing device 300. In one embodiment, the input device 304 is a keyboard and/or a mouse, and the user uses the keyboard and/or mouse to input data relating to the avatar displayed. Other input devices are possible in other embodiments. For example, the computing device 300 may be a handheld device, and the user may input data via a touch screen and a stylus.

During operation, the game logic 306 displays a GUI depicting the gaming table shown in FIG. 1. A user, via the input device 304, selects the wager location 22 and enters data indicative of an ante. In addition, the user can select location 24 and also enter data indicative of a pair plus wager. As noted hereinabove, the pair plus wager that is to be placed on location 24 is optional.

After data is entered indicative of the ante and pair plus, the game logic 306 deals each player three cards face down. In addition, the game logic 306 deals a dealer four cards face down. Each player must decide to play, fold or draw, based on the three cards received. Therefore, the user can select the cards deal to the user in order to see his hand.

If the player decides to play his hand, he enters data indicative of an additional wager by selecting and entering data in the designated location 20. If the player decides to fold, the user selects a fold button (not shown) thereby forfeiting all wagers.

The user has the option to discard one card. When discarding a card, the player can select and slide a card, via the input device 304, location 26 of the GUI. In addition, the user enters data indicative of another wager, which is equal equal to the ante wager. The game logic 306 removes the discarded card and places it in a designated location 16. Location 16 may be, for example, a computer representation of a “discard shoe.” In addition, the game logic 306 places the wager in a designated location 18. Location 18 may be, for example, a computer representation of the dealer's chip/token rack.

The game logic 306 replaces the discarded card with an additional card face down in location 26. The player, via the input device 304, can then move the additional card to his/her hand. The player then makes a final decision to play or fold. If the player folds, he forfeits all wagers as described above.

The game logic 306 continues clockwise to the next player, if there are additional players. Note that in one embodiment, additional players may be a part of the game by connecting to the game via the network device 306. As an example, the game logic 306 may be executed via the Internet, and multiple players could play the game logic 306 with multiple players. Therefore, after each player has made their decision, the game logic 306 turns its four cards face up and discards one card to make his/her best three-card hand.

The three card hand of the game logic 306 must be Queen high or better to play. The game logic 306 starts with the first player to his/her left that plays and compares his/her three card hand against the three-card hand of the game logic 306. If the player's three-card hand is higher rank than the three-card hand of the game logic 306, the player's winnings are determined by what the player wagered and is paid from location 18 according to the paytable, as described hereinabove.

While the invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to several embodiments thereof, it will be understood by those skilled in the relevant art that various changes in form and details may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims. 

1. An electronic poker-style card game, comprising: an input device; a display device; and logic stored in memory and configured to display a gaming table via the display device, the logic further configured to receive data, via the input device, indicative of at least one initial wager, thereby forming a wagered player, the logic further configured to deal a first number of cards to the wagered player and deal a second number of cards indicative of a dealer's hand, the logic further configured to receive data indicative of a discarded card from the first number of cards and a corresponding additional wager and configured to deal the wagered player a replacement card for the discarded card if the wagered player discarded one of the first number of cards forming a wagered player's hand, the logic further configured to discard one card from the second number of cards and resolve the wagered player's wager based upon the wagered player's hand and a predetermined payout schedule.
 2. The electronic poker-style card game of claim 1, wherein the first number of cards is three.
 3. The electronic poker-style card game of claim 1, wherein the first number of cards is equal to the number of cards needed to determine a winning poker hand.
 4. The electronic poker-style card game of claim 3, wherein the second number of cards is equal to one more than the first number of cards.
 5. The electronic poker-style card game of claim 1, wherein the additional wager is greater than or equal to the initial wager. 